


A Paper Heart

by Ohtd_luv4ever



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Acorn and Tomato the pugs, Alternate reality of sorts, BAMF Bilbo, BAMF Hobbits, Child Frodo, Confused Dwarves, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Hash up of Canon and Non, InkHeart AU, M/M, Mostly a happy story, Pugs Under the Mountain, Self concious Thorin, Silver-tongue Bilbo, There will be feels, fem bilbo, little frodo, shy Thorin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-17
Updated: 2015-08-17
Packaged: 2018-04-15 06:19:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4596120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ohtd_luv4ever/pseuds/Ohtd_luv4ever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For there in front of him was a tall slender male, not of any ilk or race that Bilbo had seen before. His skin was pale and his hair dark, but he wore no clothes and had patches of what looked to be red scales adorning his body. The fact that he was also holding a being too short to be a man but most certainly Not a hobbit by the throat off the ground was another matter entirely. Both seemed utterly shaken to look around and not be where they once had been, and the gaping hobbits in front of the fire were certainly not pleased about the development either. </p>
<p>“Oh good gracious!”</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Paper Heart

**Author's Note:**

> New story! Inkheart au this time, I'm really excited to work with my beta Lmere on this. Hope you guys enjoy. 
> 
> As always all credit goes to Tolkien.

It is a curious thing, to open a book. It transports you through its printed pages to far off lands to meet new exciting people and read about fantastical adventures. You can take a book with you nearly wherever you go, a silent companion and stalwart friend for whatever the occasion. The Smial of Bilbo Baggins had been built with the collecting, selling and restoring of books in mind. The leather or cloth bound treasures attracted men and hobbits alike, each eager to own one of the paper and ink delights that resided under the hill. When you stepped inside a Baggins home, the scent of ink and paper, home cooking and an atmosphere of cheerful conversation or silent absorption filled your senses. It was a very comfortable and welcoming place to visit, and the guest bedrooms were nearly always filled.

The smial at the top of the hill was also nearly filled to bursting on ‘read in’ days when Mr. Baggins would open his doors for the faunt’s of the shire to come and listen to him read aloud. For the hobbit had a spectacular gift even amongst his talented people’s respected skills. He could read things out of books. It wasn’t a widely advertised ability, for greedy relatives would surely hound the gentlehobbit for treasures and gold if they knew he had any sort of control over when things would slip from the printed worlds. Instead he claimed his gift was only his voice, which captivated his audience as it spun the tales from the pages, visions of dukes and duchess, of fairy tree’s and talking animals. Whatever Bilbo read instantly swept his listeners away. And once in a while, something would simply appear out of thin air, conjured from the hobbits voice from between the pages of the story he was reading. It was usually little baubles of glass, a slipper or a small pile of coins. Those were the unintentional uses of his gift and the new things usually went unnoticed by his guests. But Bilbo’s gift had another purpose, when he concentrated hard enough he could bring exotic goods or gold from his favorite books. This made sure that the Baggin’s family was kept in good comfort, and that they never lacked for anything.  

It wasn’t until years later, when tragedy had struck their small place of peace not once but twice and taken four members of the family that our story begins.  It started as one might expect. With a book. As it was, the simple and curious mind of a young Baggins boy named Frodo found the book on a shelf in the back room that would change his world. It was a simply dressed thing, with green leather for the binding and no title but the authors last name. Tolkien.

The dark haired lad had flipped through the pages, reading a line here and there and immediately scurried back to the front room with his treasure tucked under his arm. New books were always welcome and this one had a story that Frodo couldn’t wait to hear his uncle read aloud. When he showed the plain book to Bilbo the fond smile that pulled at his older relatives face was nothing new, but a private reading was always special since the boy didn’t have to share his uncle’s focus with any of the guests. So it made the experience that much better to the young fauntling. The smial was empty but for the two of them that night, they had no boarders and none of his friends had stayed over for supper. So Frodo would happily fill this rare evening that he had his uncle to himself with a good book. He settled in the comfortable arm chair by the fire on Bilbo’s lap, his large blue eyes trained on the cover of his chosen book intently.

“Have you read this story before Uncle?”

Softly thumbing the worn green leather, the hobbit chuckled quietly at his nephew’s curiosity. It was a good thing for a Baggins to have after all and he would encourage it as much as he could.

“Yes my boy, it is a good tale, one I think you’ll enjoy.”

Frodo’s large blue eyes peered at the as of yet unopened volume eagerly, trying to imagine what the whole story would be from the few glimpses he had received through his peeking.

“Who is it about?”

Opening the cover, Bilbo turned the slightly yellowed pages until he reached an illustration. Depicted in ink on the paper was a group of people, most just larger than hobbits and one rather much taller. They wore hoods and had on armor and weapons and didn’t look like anything that Frodo had ever seen before.

“This is a tale about one brave little hobbit who goes on an altogether frightening but worthwhile adventure with a group of dwarves and a wizard to take back their home from an evil dragon named Smaug. Along the way they meet elves and trolls, bear men and orcs, spiders and some of the grumpiest men I’ve ever read about, and it ends as you might expect.”

An expression of wonder had taken over Frodo’s young face and he almost reverently touched the picture, tracing the funny shape of the wizard’s hat as he inspected the other characters on the page. Then a slight frown took over the previous expression and he turned to his uncle with an almost affronted look on his face.

“But uncle! We don’t have any elves or dwarves or even wizards in our world. That seems terribly unfair that we only have men to keep us company while the people in this book get lots more.”

A full blown laugh escaped the elder hobbit at his nephew’s indignant words and he pressed a fond kiss to the inky curls as he turned to the first page of the story.

“I suppose it’s not. But think of it this way, we would also have to deal with the orcs and goblins, spiders as large as ponies and evil drakes if we really did live in that world. I’m not sure the shire would survive in such a place my boy. Not all of us Hobbits are as courageous as our parents were. Now, would you like to start the story and find out just what happens to this company of dwarves and the lone hobbit?”

Frodo thought for a moment before he nodded and settled against his uncle, comfortable and warm and ready to be swept away into this new land that was styled so much like their own but wasn’t it at all. He closed his eyes and let the first words that his uncle spoke wash over him, and rather felt that he was not sitting in Bag End any more. At least not in his mind.

_“ In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit.”_

 

It wasn’t long before both the reader and the listener were utterly enthralled, the magic of the story sweeping them away as nothing ever had before. Frodo was holding his breath in excitement, his hands tight on the arm rest as his uncle described the terrible beast Smaug and the heroic prince of the dwarves.  A rushing sound filled the room along with a burst of heat and the acrid stench of smoke, startling the room’s inhabitants. In that instant two figures appeared in front of the hobbits. They were indistinct at first, an outline of what was to come. All too quickly between the blink of an eye and another the living room of Bag End held not two but four people, and the likes of which had sprung from the pages caused the respectable Bilbo Baggins to pale in fright.

For there in front of him was a tall slender male, not of any ilk or race that Bilbo had seen before. His skin was pale and his hair dark, but he wore no clothes and had patches of what looked to be red scales adorning his body. The fact that he was also holding a being too short to be a man but most certainly Not a hobbit by the throat off the ground was another matter entirely. Both seemed utterly shaken to look around and not be where they once had been, and the gaping hobbits in front of the fire were certainly not pleased about the development either.

“Oh good gracious!”

Bilbo sprung from his chair in an instant, holding Frodo close as the book fell to the ground unheeded. The pale male turned his head and Hissed, slitted pupils and bared fangs further convincing the book keeper that this was someone he did not want in his house in the slightest. It was luck that the beast seemed to have little strength, for even as he turned to deal with his accidental summoner his grip loosened on his captive’s throat and he went down to one knee at the same moment. He seemed unable to rise, arms shaking where he pushed at the carpet in an attempt to stand again. Squeaking in terror, Bilbo fled the room with his nephew clutched in his arms and raced to his cellar, where he placed a shell shocked Frodo down behind bags of potatoes with the strictest command to not come out until he came to get him. Then in a move that he considered to be the bravest of his life, the hobbit went back upstairs to face his unwanted guests.

Clutching a walking stick in trembling hands, Bilbo marched back into his living room and was faced with the sight of the reptile like man gaining his feet with the aid of the hobbit’s armchair, while the second being had yet to move from where the other had dropped him. When the cold eyes swept over the hobbits form mockingly and a sinisterly predatory smile stretched the pale lips to expose the fangs once more, the hobbit swallowed fitfully and waved his stick as threateningly as he could.

“L…look you! I don’t know what or who you are but you’re not welcome here so I suggest you leave at this very moment!”

The laugh that the being gave in no way told the hobbit that the frightening man was going to comply to his wishes, and when he made to rise with one clawed hand outstretched Bilbo did what his instincts were screaming for and walloped the loathsome creature over the head as hard as he could.  The shock on the beings face as he was struck was almost comical and the hobbit had to fight back a near hysterical bout of laughter even as he raised the stick again.

“I told you to leave!”

A petulant and rather unbelieving hiss escaped the beings throat as he clutched his now aching skull, and the reptile gave a baleful glare to the hobbit even as he began to do what he was told.

“I heard you little creature. But do not think for a moment that after my strength returns I will not hunt you down for this affront and roast you and that child alive.”

The threat to Frodo was all that Bilbo could take, and with a war cry he launched himself at the taller male, belaboring away with his walking stick furiously until he had driven the nightmare to his front door and out onto the lawn. Once he was sure that the horrendous beast had truly left, the hobbit went back to his living room to deal with the other guest and found the male struggling to keep himself upright with the aid of his ottoman.  

Dark hair with strands of silver, a fur collar, large steel capped boots and blue clothing was Bilbo’s first impression of this other being. It was few moments before the other lifted his head, and when he did the brightest sapphire eyes that the hobbit had ever seen gazed back at him. Rounded ears, a beard and braids of all things in his long hair and the sheer size of his body build had Bilbo gulping in shock as he connected just what this being was, and who the other must have been in his mind.

“A…dwarf. I brought a dwarf and a bloody dragon into the Shire. Oh dear.”

Fumbling for his chair the hobbit sat down and regarded his dwarvish guest with the same amount of incredulity and confusion as his guest was inspecting him with. Neither spoke for a good while, and when the silence was broken it was with a voice far deeper than any Bilbo had heard before. No hobbit had that dark of a timbre after all.

“You are a hobbit. Why…. And how have you brought me here. I demand to know.” 

Bilbo felt rather faint, the shock of the evening wearing on his sensibilities; but he plucked up his courage again when the irked tone of the dwarf reached his ears. Enough so that he could raise his walking stick again and answer back just as irately at least.

“See here dwarf! I did not intend to bring you or that foul beast into my home! If you mean me harm then you will get the same treatment as the other did, but if you’re friendly then I will serve dinner and we will talk about what happened like civilized folk.”

The utterly confounded expression that the other wore lent a proud flush to the hobbits cheeks even as he lowered the walking stick, and finally after a bout of staring the other male nodded his head in acquiesce. Bilbo put the wood aside and hesitantly made his way over to the fallen warrior.

“Here now. I’m Bilbo Baggins, you’re in my home in the Shire and quite safe here I assure you as long as you mean none of my folk any mal intent.”

When the large roughened palm of the dwarf engulfed his own after Bilbo offered it as a help up, a shiver ran through the hobbit. This was certainly no illusion he was sure of that now, and as the other loomed over the owner of Bag End with a grumpy scowl on his face, the distinct feeling that nothing was ever going to be the same wound its way around Bilbo’s heart. It was sealed when the dwarf gave his name, straight from the book that he came from.

“I am Thorin Oakenshield at your service, Mr. Baggins.”

The poor hobbit nearly fainted. Not only had be brought a dwarf from the pages of his book, but a dwarf King at that. Shaking his head ruefully, Bilbo scooped up the book from where it had fallen to the carpet and held it to his chest protectively.  


“I wish I could say well met master dwarf, but I think both of us would rather have not had this occur at all. I need to go get my nephew. Please sit yourself down in the kitchen and I’ll serve our meal as soon as possible.”

The cellar was quiet when Bilbo entered it, and his call of Frodo’s name brought the boy scurrying straight into his arms with a tearful whimper. The hobbit cuddled the lad close to his chest, humming a soothing lullaby as he carried the small fauntling back to the kitchen. Rubbing his nephew’s back softly, he pressed a kiss to the inky curls and smiled hesitantly at the dwarf who was perched uncomfortably at his table.

Dark bruises were beginning to form around the lightly tanned column of his visitor’s throat, and Bilbo came to a quick revelation about why it had taken this tough looking dwarf so long to rise from the floor. Being strangled would make anyone sluggish after all.  The hobbit began to putter about to prepare tea while holding his nephew in his arms, his racing heart slowly starting to calm now that the danger had passed. Swiftly he recalled what he was fairly certain would be the dwarf’s last name, and addressed his new…guest as he grabbed cups from the cupboard. 

“So Mr. Oakenshield, care to tell me why that monstrous brute was holding you like that? It certainly wasn’t how the story told it, I hardly knew that drakes even Had a humanoid form.”   

Thorin’s gaze had softened as he saw the fauntling held in Bilbo’s arms. Glancing at the older hobbit the king gave a soft grunt, looking down into the depths of the tea mug that was placed in front of him, watching steam rise from it.

“My company was not expecting it either master Baggins. We had thought the wyrm slept or was dead; the mountain was quiet when we entered. You say that you brought us from a…book. If I was not traveling with a wizard I would find that explanation hard to swallow, but here I am, clearly not in my own world. I have little answers for you, but many questions of my own regarding this...ability of yours to summon others from their rightful places.”

Bilbo snorted slightly, coaxing his nephew into drinking a cup of the sweet herbal tea he had made to help settle his nerves. Preposterous really, this whole situation. He was quite Not pleased that he had somehow brought a calamity in the form of a drake into the shire, he had never brought anything Living into his home in a very long time.

“Believe me master dwarf it was not my intention. My Gift is strong for my people to be sure but usually it’s only a bit of gold or a harmless object. Not people. I have no idea how to go about dealing with the horrid beast that I drove out of here, but I will need to figure out how to return you back to your own world.”

Those words darkened the dwarf’s expression to a thundercloud. “I need to return as swiftly as possible. Even if that wyrm is no longer in my realm there is still a monster after my kin and I must get back to them. You say you didn’t intend to bring me out. Does that also mean you’re certain that you do not know how to send me home?”   

Sighing heavily, Bilbo took a hearty sip of his tea, nodding his answer before he spoke. Frodo was peeping out from behind his arm now at the taller and rather majestic looking being sitting at their kitchen table with something like awe on his tiny face. It was a sight better than the fear from before, so his uncle wouldn’t stop the lad’s curiosity. “I’m rather afraid both you and that beast are stuck here for a while Master Oakenshield. I can consult with the leaders of my people who have the next strongest Gifts to see what can be done, but for now you will need to either stay here or find an inn. Of course you are perfectly welcome to remain in my home for the duration of your...visit.”

Thorin glanced about the home he had been brought into with no small amount of skepticism, the wood arches and peaceful feeling he got from the whole place wasn’t really doing anything for his dwarvish sensibilities. The house was eerily the same as the one he and his company had visited at the start of the quest and a shiver ran through his body as he took in his host. The house was not the only thing too close to his experiences for comfort. His kind preferred to be under stone, and while the earth was a decent enough replacement it just wasn’t quite the same. “It would seem, as I am a stranger in this place and you are the only… hobbits I have even the slightest knowledge of from this world. It would be prudent for me to remain in your dwelling. “

Smiling faintly, Bilbo shifted his nephew around so he could get a better look at the dwarf, before the elder hobbit stood to get supper off the oven. “That’s settled then. Frodo, why don’t you keep Mr. Oakenshield company while I get our supper settled.”

The faunt grinned up at his new companion with a gap toothed smile, the fear from before naught but a faded memory at the moment. Thorin regarded the tiny creature with some trepidation as he watched the boy’s uncle head back to the stove. He had not been around children for a long while after all, and this one was very fragile looking. The appearance of the little one had him confused for a moment, the blue eyes and dark hair mirrored his own, while the face was all the line his host was from. It was a mixture that could have been a result of both his genes and the hobbit’s and for a single amusing second Thorin entertained the idea that this small boy would be confused as his offspring if not for the feet.

“Frodo Baggins  Mr. Dwarf. It’s nice to meet you.” The hobbitling stuck his hand out for the older male to shake, giggling slightly when the huge calloused palm enclosed his own little hand and shook ever so gently. The dwarf had a funny look on his face, but it passed into something almost fond in a moment.

“I am Thorin Oakenshield, King under the Mountain at your service lad.” A snort of amusement fought its way up in his chest at the gobsmacked expression on the little pebbles face at his admission. Then that huge smile was back, and Thorin could feel himself being thoroughly inspected by two pairs of curious eyes.

“You’re the King! But where’s your beard? The book said that you’re supposed to have one long enough to tuck into your belt…” Frodo frowned in confusion, tilting his head as he took in the somewhat short beard that was pulled into a single braid that hung from the dwarf’s chin. At the end of the braid a gleaming bead hung and that captured the faunts interest as well for a few long moments as he studied the design.

Blinking slightly, Thorin looked down at his barely moderate beard by dwarvish standards and raised an eyebrow. “Would that I did, then perhaps I could truly lay claim to my clan’s name of Longbeard. It would seem this book has a few discrepancies in it Master Baggins.”

Chuckling slightly, Bilbo shrugged and carried over three full plates, before he brought the tea pot over to refill everyone’s mugs. “I suppose there will be, considering I have no idea how much of a difference there is from the book and in your world. I highly doubt that the pages of that small volume can hold the whole goings on of a realm.” 

The hobbit grabbed the scraps that had accumulated from his cooking and scraped them into two shallow bowls that sat near the kitchen door, giving a short whistle as he turned to set the empty plate in the sink. However when there was no sound of little nails on the wooden floors and a lack of excited snorting at the prospect of dinner, Bilbo looked around in confusion. Usually as soon as the summons left his lips the other two occupants of the house were in the kitchen only moments later. Turning to his nephew, the elder hobbit stroked his hand through the silky curls. “Frodo my boy, where did you last see Acorn and Tomato?” 

The fauntling looked up, wiping a smudge of sauce off his cheek and swallowing before he spoke. “They were sitting in their bed by the fire while we read uncle. Don’t you remember?” Looking around now, the blue eyes widened in surprise when there was an obvious lack of two pudgy wrinkly pugs snorting about in their bowls nor begging at the side table. 

Bilbo’s lips thinned into a straight line at the affirmation that he had been afraid of. “So that is how you were able to be brought here Master Oakenshield. My gift can only bring something from the book’s I read if something goes in for an equal exchange. My pugs went into your world and you came into ours.”

The dwarf nodded slowly, a crease in his brow telling the hobbit that he didn’t fully understand. “What….are pugs.”

 

 

Deep in the caverns of Erebor within the world of Middle Earth, a company of dwarves one hobbit and a wizard were staring in slack jawed amazement at the place where only moments ago had held the vicious humanoid drake they had vowed to kill, and their king. Now, there in the middle of a lightly smoking ring on a clear spot in the treasury, were two small fat wrinkled animals that none of those present but one had ever seen before. 

The creatures were entangled together, with the lighter one laying almost fully on top of the black coated slightly larger one, and both were looking right at the flabbergasted group with slightly bugged out brown eyes. It was silent for a few long moments, but then a rumbling snort broke that stillness. As one the dwarves jumped in fright, but it was only the pale colored animal opening its mouth to…breathe.

With a cry of dismay, one of the taller dwarves darted from the pack and fell to his knees before the two little creatures, his brown eyes filled with tears as he beheld what had taken the place of his kin. “Uncle! What in Mahal’s name has happened to you? It must be some awful magic to have transformed you into a…a…Gandalf what is this thing?”  Grasping the fully black animal under its short little front legs, Kili hoisted it up and held the now panting canine up as high as he could while kneeling so that the wizard could get a better look.

However Gandalf had only the vaguest idea of what species the odd being could be going from its general shape. “I believe master Kili that it is a dog. But I highly doubt that it is your uncle or that the second is Smaug for that matter. There is very little intelligence in their eyes. And besides that, the other is a female. Smaug was most certainly a male drake…though I will agree that some magic has swept both our foe and your king away.  A powerful sort indeed to transport a being of such rapport as Smaug.”

The faun pug had now rolled to its feet and padded over to the lone hobbit in the group, who had been left alone as soon as the dog had started moving in their direction. The shireling bent down and scooped the female into the air, a smile appearing on the hobbits rather dirty face as the small animal tried to lick her cheek. “They’re pugs Gandalf. The Shire breeds them. They aren’t dangerous at all, very loving in fact.” Auburn curls darkened with soot draped into the pugs face when she squirmed in her holder’s arms, and a small sneeze resounded through the air a moment later.

Slowly the dwarves approached their hobbit again, looking skeptically down at the flat faces of the dogs. Bofur slowly reached out and ran his finger down the velvety soft fur on one flopped over ear and smiled at the texture, the hatted dwarf scratching the round head a moment later. “Ye say that yer people breed these pooches Briar? Do they hold any grand position in the Shire?”

Briar Took laughed softly, shifting her grip on the pug so that the animal didn’t fall out of her arms as it squirmed in pleasure at the attention. “They serve as alarm systems mostly. They aren’t good for much more.” Seeing such kindly creatures in the cold husk of Erebor was lifting her spirits and the fact that they reminded her of home didn’t hurt either.

“Well, regardless of what they are used for, the fact remains that somehow these creatures have replaced our king and the wyrm Smaug. We do not know where they have gone, nor if they will return. Nor do we know who has the power to do such a thing. I would suggest Gandalf that you contact the highest powers you can to see if this can be figured out.” Balin was frowning heavily as he spoke, looking at the two pugs with a wary expression in his eyes.

Kili, who had joined the group that was gathered around Briar and the faun pug noticed the collar that hung around his dog’s neck and scooted it around to see the name. With delight he read it aloud. “Tomato! That’s a very Hobbity name isn’t it Briar.”

The hobbitess laughed quietly and read her pug’s name tag as well, a smile crossing her face. “Indeed it is. This Girls name is Acorn. Well it must have been quite a shock for your owner to suddenly be down two pugs and have a dwarf and a drake in their home instead. Let us hope that they weren’t harmed by that awful creature and that Thorin shall be returned to us. Then maybe you’ll get to go home as well little ones.”

The pugs only snorted the louder and sneezed on both of the beings holding them much to Kili’s disgust. Briar only sighed long-sufferingly; after all she had been covered in troll boggies so a little pug snot was hardly worth mentioning. She looked over at the ring of soot on the floor where the dogs had appeared and the dwarvish king had vanished with trepidation. One could only hope that whomever had summoned the dwarf away hadn’t meant to, but it was hard to remain positive when she had seen so much on their journey of the evil in the world. Only time would tell what would happen now she supposed, be it for better or worse, another chapter in their adventure had begun.

**Author's Note:**

> The beginning has been revealed. We shall see what happens next....when I get around to finishing the next chapter. 
> 
> Comments are love Kudo's are cookies. Hope to hear from you guys!
> 
> Acorn and Tomato the Pugs under the Mountain are credited to the amazingly talented ewebean on tumblr. Here is her main blog http://ewebean.tumblr.com/ and here is her Pugs under the Mountain au section of her blog. http://ewebean.tumblr.com/tagged/pugs-masterpost  
>  GO look!
> 
> Also, here is my tumblr, follow me if you would like!   
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ohtd-love-forever  
> Some of my own art and mumblings, plus reblogs. Hope to see you guys soon!


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